There and Gone
by RainonSaturn
Summary: After Percy and Annabeth escape Tarturus, they are in need of a vacation. Join them and friends as they learn more of Reyna, The Ice Queen of the Roman Legions. Will their friendship survive? Rated T cause I'm paranoid. (Or am I?)


There and Gone

_Gone. All of it._ After the Giant War, Reyna wanted to relax. _Now look where I am. _After their little stint in Tartarus, Percy and Annabeth had been desperate for a vacation, and Reyna had been more than happy to agree. So out they set, Piper, Jason, Leo, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Conner, Travis, Reyna, Nico, and Thalia (who was taking a break from the Hunters.) They had gotten a boat from Poseidon, and set out off Long Island Sound, not caring about the monsters that would most certainly attack them, for Gods sake they had three children of the big three here. Curses. Three days after they set out, a sea monster ruined their boat, forcing them to swim for the Island where they had been planning to stop anyway, except with all their things.

"For Jupiter's sake, this is idiotic! Three children of the Big Three. THREE! How in Hades are we going to get back to the mainland with that _thing _near the Island? Because we better think of a way fast, cause' no one's going to come looking for us for a month!" Reyna yelled.

"Anger issues much?" One of the Stoll twins, she couldn't tell which (they were twins for crying out loud), muttered.

"Excuse me?" She replied, ice creeping into her voice.

"All you've done since we've met you is complain. "You Greeks ruined my life, you Greeks destroyed my Camp, you Greeks started a war." The other Twin mimicked her voice. "You know what? We're done with that. Done with you. All you do is insult us. I feel bad for the Romans who have _you_ as their leader." He finished. She kept her face blank as she looked at the agreement on everyone else's faces. They turned away from her.

"Okay, someone get firewood. If we build a temporary camp site, we'll be able to survive until the Camp starts looking for us. Is that okay with... Reyna?" They all turned back to her, but she was gone.

Reyna ran, twigs ripping her ankle length tunic and stola. She saw a log, and sat down, slipping the gold stola over her head. Next went her tunic. The gold and purple fabric started to blur as hot tears added more salt water stains to her face. Now all she had on was a black tank-top and jean shorts. She took the red ribbon that Jason gave her five years ago from her wrist, and tied her hair back with it. Eyeing the nearest tree, she grabbed her cast off clothes and yanked on the lowest branch. It held, so she stepped on that, and repeated the process until she was at the top of the tree. The foliage was thick, so she figured that no one would be able to see her from the ground. She lay the tunic over two branches, so it could dry easier, and her stola she tied between two others, making a makeshift bed. When her Tunic dried, she could use that as a sun cover, or a blanket, depending on the time and weather. She sat on the bed. _I'll need food for at least two days, and water for three. If I keep to the trees, and make no sound, they'll never find me! _ Suddenly memories of her and Hylla's time with Blackbeard surfaced.

**_"Get back here, ya witch!"_**

_They really hate me now, don't they._

**_A whip cracked._**

_Their my friends, why don't they understand?_

**_Blinding pain spread across her back as she was lashed again and again._**

_Why?_

**_Hylla washing the cuts with water, even as her own bleed._**

_WHY?_

Reyna jerked herself out of her memories. She touched her face, to find fresh tears washing new paths down her face. She sighed. _The water Hylla used was salt. We were never given fresh. I remember the pain, loneliness and despair. We never had hope. _Now was supposed to be a time to relax with her closest, and only, friends. _I guess they never thought of me as their friend. _She brushed those thoughts aside, and concentrated on moving from tree to tree without alerting anyone who might be below. As the wind shifted, she sniffed the air. _Berries. Maybe flowers as well. There might even be a stream running through or near them._ She jumped toward the smell. She had been right; in front of her lay a meadow. She looked around, and smiled when she spotted clumps of reeds near the stream running along the edge. When she reached them, she drew a knife from a scabbard on her waist. _This knife and my sword are my only weapons, I hope they'll be enough._ Once she got enough reeds cut to the right length, she sat down indian-style and began weaving them into baskets. _One large, two small._ Reyna smiled grimly at remembering her sisters words. _Every week, three new baskets. One large, two small. When I first came to Camp Jupiter, everyone commented on how good my posture was. No one knew that that came from carrying one basket on my head, and another two in my hands, all chock-full of food, across branches. Fools. _As she remised, her mind was busy, so she did not hear the voices and foot steps until almost too late.

"Reyna!" Her head whipped. Jason and Piper were running toward her._ Their shouts must have alerted the others. Crap. _Grabbing her weaving, she leapt the river and ran into the forests. _I swear I saw a boulder somewhere around here... There!_ She jumped up on said boulder, and pulled her self onto the nearest branch, just in time to see Jason and Piper bumble through the bushes.

"I...swear I saw...her run this...way." Piper managed between pants.

"We probably took a wrong turn, Beauty Queen. We'll tell the others we saw her, and that they should be on the lookout, but we need to get food. Leo's tool belt can only do so much." _So they were never actually looking for me, it was just a chance meeting. Why do I feel so betrayed? I shouldn't have expected anything else. No one really wants me or Hylla around. It's just our life. What did they say, "be on the lookout?" They say that like I'm a criminal. Perfect._ She moved higher, all the way to the top of the tree. As she looked for any sign of _their_ camp, she spread her arms, enjoying the feel of the wind on her arms. She closed her arms, rubbing her **SPQR** tattoo unconsciously. Memories overtook her again. **_Run. That was all they could do. Nothing else matterd aside from escaping the Pirates. They planned for weeks, leaving no deatail un-debated. The night had come. They waited for all to be asleep, than slipped from their chains, picking the locks. Slipping past the sleepers, crew and slaves alike, the moved out the door and past the mast. They hallooed the lookout, claiming to have brought him food and drink to ease his shift. He came down, took the things, and had his full. In five minutes, he was out like a light. They had drugged the water, one that was unnoticeable to the senses. Grabbing a life boat, they lowered it overboard, and rowed as fast as they could, going back to their last port. _**_That was the night we were freed. The night when our fight for survival truly began. _A sound from below broke her memories. She moved to a better position to see. _Greaaaat. _Conner and Travis, along with Jason and Leo. _Just my luck. This is perfect. I'm in breathing range of people who hate me._ They seemed to be looking for something. _Probably still looking for food._She pulled her self over the branch, so that she could return to her campsite to keep weaving her baskets, but her elbow snapped a branch. **Crack!** She froze, but the damage was already done. They all looked up, looked at her. For the space of five seconds, the world stood still. _Crap!_ The silence broke.

"Reyna!" An arrow whizzed by her as she whipped up on the branch, pulled herself to her feet, and ran away through the trees, the teens below pursuing.

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She panted. She had led them on a merry chase as she avoided her new home whenever possible. As she took the Greeks hate of her as both camps hate of her, she planned in staying on this island. Thankfully, she had lost her chasers, so she could return to her home. _I think I will call this island Novam Vitam, Latin for new life. It fits._

She reached her tree. _And this, Domum Propter Cor, Home for the heart. Perfect._ She sat down in a nook between two branches, and took out her weaving. She lost herself in the rhythm, and after she finished all three, fell asleep over her work

**※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※**

"So she's hiding in the trees?"

"That's our guess."

That's how she disappeared!"

"Yep."

"And she ran from you? That doesn't seem like Reyna."

"Captain Idiot here shot at her."

"hey, who you callin' idioOW!"

"Serves you right."

"So how about this time, t_he girls _talk to her, while you boys stay here. We have enough food, so don't pull that one on us. If you wreck it _again_ we might never get our friend back."

"Fine wise girl."

"I'm going with you."

"Give me two reasons why, Jason."

"Fine Beauty Queen. One: She might be angry. Two: I'm a fellow Roman. Three: I'm her fellow Praetor. As well as her friend, and _only_ confident."

"You'll go tomorrow. I'll take first watch."

**_※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※_**

Dawn found Reyna knee-deep in the stream, washing herself. Dumping another handful on herself, she spotted the silver flash of a fish. She wanted to catch it, but knew that any fire she lit would alert anyone on the island to where she was. After drinking her fill, she rolled in the grass to dry her self off. Grabbing her full baskets, she set off back to Domum Propter Cor, going on foot to confuse anyone looking for her. Unknown to her, she was being followed.

They watched as the red ribbon bobbed out of site, then broke cover and followed. No one made a sound, in fear of being found out. They had already gone over the plan.

**_"Okay, we need a plan, and a good one, to even get close to Reyna. I think we should figue out where she set camp, then when she leaves, one person waits somewhere to be able to talk to her, while the others block the exits. Objections?"_**

**_"Nope."_**

**_"None."_**

**_"I'm good."_**

**_"This means heights right?"_**

**_"You can cover the ground exit, Thalia"_**

**_"K', Annabeth." _**

Reyna pulled herself unto Domum Propter Cor. She looked around. _Jason would that branch that overlooks the whole Island, and the sea beyond. He sit there for hours. Frank and Hazel would sit at that part of the truck, where it meets the thickest branch, and talk about anything and everything. Annabeth would be talking about how to inprove living here, and Percy would shut her up with a kiss. Thalia and Nico would be on the ground having a shouting match, and Leo would be tinkering with somthing while making bad jokes. We could be on happy fami..._Reyna shut herself down before she could finish that thought. _That is not a word I will use. It has no meaning to me._ As she calmed her raging feeling from thinking of her ex-friends, she got out the reeds she had cut by the stream. The baskets she had woven needed covers and someplace flat to put them, so she was going to use today to do that. _What was that rhyme Hylla would always sing when she wove? Under over, pick the clover, heed the rhyme and don't go slower, Under over. _She started singing it aloud.

"Under over, pick the clover, heed the rhyme and don't go slower; under over, under over." She repeated it as she worked, moving her fingers faster as she sang faster. In no time, she had finished the two smaller cover, and was about to start the big basket cover. She laughed as she took a break, taking a berry from a basket. A bump sounded from behind her. She whipped, crouching in a defensive position. _Jason._

"Reyna. We need to talk.

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He watched as she sang to herself, watched as she laughed. Watched as she did things she ad only ever done with him by her side. So he did the only thing that came naturally. He advanced the plan.

"Reyna. We need to talk." The surprised expression on her face turned into a sneer.

"Talk? About what. I get that you hate me. So can you please stop rubbing it in my face that I have no friends, and leave Novam Vitam."He stepped back in shock.

"Novam Vitam? That's latin for new life. Reyna, what do you mean about no friends? And why are you naming this Island, when, in a month, we're going to be gone?"

"That's just it. _Your _going to be gone, not me. I'm staying. I took your comments about pitying the Romans because they have me as a leader, and thought about them. If no one likes me, why stick around?" So I decided to stay here. I have a bed," She patted the stola-turned-hammock then continued, "I have food containers, and I have easy access to water. What else could a girl need?"

"She would need friends."

"I fared fine without any after we escaped Blackbeard. Anyways, look how our friendship turned out. If this is friendship, than thanks, but no thanks."

"Hey, Ice Queen. I went through almost the same thing you did, and look where I am. I have friends, and a Family. If you would open up, you could have that too." Jason shot a glare as everyone(except Thalia and Nico) climbed unto branches near him and Reyna.

"Guys, I had it under control." Jason hissed. Reyna ignored him and turned her attention to the offending speaker.

"Valdez, nothing you went through was even close to what I did. Even having the word _close _in that sentence is a stretch."

"There she goes again with all that "Stupid Greek" talk." Travis said, intentionally loud enough for said Ice Queen to hear.

"I under stand that you did have to run from place to place like me, Fire Boy," Everyone turned to her, surprised. Her voice was colder than ever and her eyes were ice. "But I am guessing that you experience did not include getting captured by Pirates. Did not include getting whipped repeatedly. Did not include serving under "Lord" Blackbeard, as he forced me to call him. So tell me, if that is "almost the same" as your experience, than tell me, how bad was yours? I cannot think of many things worse than that, but I may hold a biased opinion."

None of them responded, so she turned and jumped down from branch to branch until she reached the ground.

"Reyna." _Annabeth. _She turned to see said girl holding out her hand. "I know. And I'm sorry. But now I've found a girl who truly understands how I feel. Tarturus was hell. But we can both heal. Together?" Reyna took the hand, and pulled Annabeth into a hug.

"Together."


End file.
